Waking Ashland

Waking Ashland first took shape in November 2003 when vocalist and keyboardist Jonathan Jones, guitarist Ryan Lallier, and drummer Thomas Lee came together as music majors at California State University. The group’s sound drew heavily from Ben Folds. Robert Teegarden briefly handled bass duties before guitarist Nick Rucker and bassist Derek Vaughn completed the lineup in time for the self-released debut EP I Am for You, which appeared in early 2004. Rucker and Vaughn soon departed, and Andrew Grosse stepped in on bass. Commercial traction with that EP prompted Jones, Lallier, Lee, and Grosse to leave college, after which Tooth & Nail offered the band a deal and issued the full-length Composure in May 2005. By September 2005 both Grosse and Lee had exited, leaving Jones and Lallier to rely on fill-in players for live work, among them drummer Joe Greenetz of Sherwood and bassist Trevor Sellers of Number One Gun. The Telescopes EP surfaced on Immortal in June 2006. The following April brought the full-length The Well, now featuring permanent additions Nathan Harold on bass and Tim Very on drums.